June of 08 while at work I experienced dizziness, nausea, and sweats. I was rushed to emerg where I was diagnosed with Vertigo. I have had a normal MRI, which was normal, blood work all came back ok, and an exray of the back of my neck due to a lump. The ex ray showed an enlarged lymph node. My doctor sent me to an ENT since I wasn't getting any better. While waiting to get into the ENT it was suggested that I try Physio therapy. My therapist did the canalith repositioning procedure where she found the I had nystagmus in both eyes. The nystamus has finally stopped but not the symtoms. My Ent found nothing wrong and prescribed Ativan. It is now March of 2009 and I am still dealing with the ear pain, ear fullness, dizziness etc. Not sure what to do or where to turn to next. By the way 2 days before this all happened I was at my chiro app't where he manipulated my neck. Could the manipulation have something to do with the vertigo. If anyone can help it would sure be gratefully accepted!

I hae been treated for CSF leak, menieres, had a trip to the dizzy clinic in Calgary where they performed caloric tests, had a couple mri's, 4 cats, and about 8 trips to the er when it got so bad I nearly lost consciousness. Started exactly the same, with a chiropractic manipulation. Lets figure this out, I can provide you with copies of all my cats, mri's, bloodwork etc for comparison. (my family doc says I know more about reading the scans than he does! lol.) I know there is a solution to be found, if it started abruptly, it can be rectified abruptly.

Well my caloric test came back normal, so now my ENT is sending me to a neurologist. I have only had 1 MRI to rule out a stroke, and it was normal also. My own doctor doesn't want me to go to her is it is about the veritgo because she doesn't know what to do...grrrr. She took me off work for 8 month's and since disablity declined me , I begged her to let me return to work because I couldn't afford it any longer. I"ve been back for a month on part time hrs and have been off 4 days and brought home once because of the dizziness and nausea and now they are putting me back to my full time hrs. Not sure how that will go, but I have to try!!! Just want my life back...either find out what is causing it and fix it or tell me this is my life and I'll find a way to cope. Although its nice to know I'm not alone I am sorry you are going thru this also!!!!

I know your pain.I am now on an antihistimine called Meclizine,for my dizzy spells.I do not have vertigo,thank God,and Vestibular classes did not help much.I have had no dizziness since I went on this med,a couple of months ago.Every case on here seems to be a little different,and I think there are no easy solutions to the inner ear syndrome. Bill

Well my caloric test came back normal, so now my ENT is sending me to a neurologist. I have only had 1 MRI to rule out a stroke, and it was normal also. My own doctor doesn't want me to go to her is it is about the veritgo because she doesn't know what to do...grrrr. She took me off work for 8 month's and since disablity declined me , I begged her to let me return to work because I couldn't afford it any longer. I"ve been back for a month on part time hrs and have been off 4 days and brought home once because of the dizziness and nausea and now they are putting me back to my full time hrs. Not sure how that will go, but I have to try!!! Just want my life back...either find out what is causing it and fix it or tell me this is my life and I'll find a way to cope. Although its nice to know I'm not alone I am sorry you are going thru this also!!!!

ya. my tests were normal too. it sucks because your word against the doctors. my specialist still beleives there is something going on with my ear but dunno what.

have you looked into the symptoms of a perilymph fistula or csf leak? if your chiro did something.. they could have caused some physical damage.

no damage to the ears or leaks....would like a CAT, MRI and x-ray of neck done but both my doc and the ENT see no need for it....maybe the neurologist will????? I have read so many of these boards and it is so frustrating trying to find answers. Who knew so many people are suffering as we are. So many people don't even know or have heard of vertigo.

When you see the neurologist, make sure they are familiar with dural sinus fistulas. They can produce similar symptoms, but can be much more dangerous, as they involve blood flow. This is especially true for those of us who have had CSF leak tests that have come back without significant findings. Usually with the CSF leaks and the dural fistulas there are headaches involved, and ohter significant neurological deficits such as weakness, numbness, vision problems as they are quite similar to a stroke. If you have had such symptoms make sure you drive your point home with the neurologist as these can be life threatening. They will shoot an MRI with contrast material to light up all your arteries, and will likely check for basilar and carotid artery dissection at this time as well. Has anyone else been incorrectly diagnosed with complex basilar artery migraines?

How long has everyone been struggling to find answers? I've been off work for a year, and only really had any relief for a couple of week to 2 week stretches. Had any of you travelled prior to onset of symptoms? I had been back from the P. Gulf for about a month when severe symptoms started, but had one SOB of a headache on my flight back as well as some upper respiritory infection. I've had dr's refuse me treatment with antibiotics, even though there was marked improvement after a course of clavulin on 2 occassions. Been shuffled off from ER's with a pocketful of useless percocet's . Well, not useless, they came in pretty handy after I broke my ankle after collapsing on my deck. And basically been looked at like I was a con artist after waiting for 16 hours in an ER and symptoms by then had subsided. I honestly think that for a proper diagnosis you need to catch this ******* in the act, but good luck trying to get into an MRI when that happens! lol! I'm honestly beginning to feel like the guy from looney tunes who finds the singing, dancing, Broadway frog ,and ends up in the psyche ward.! Maybe we should call it 'Michigan Rag Syndrome".

The dural fistula is usually caused by tortuosity in your cerebral arteries, and is a type of, for lack of a less scary term, aneurysim. There is a likelyhood of the tortuosity if you are double jointed, or overly flexible. Weird qualifier I know, but thats one of the genetic traits! It can be caused by a blockage in the venous system, and can result in bleeding. If said bleeder is near the ear, you get the vertigo symptoms, but will also likely get lightheadedness, ( like it's easy to distinguish between the two in the midst of an attack). Google it and you'll find tons of info.

been almost 2 years in my case. it all started after diving into water then worsened 3 weeks later after a chiro adjustment. i was doing pretty good and getting better until i opted for exploratory surgery for my ear as i was certain that i had a plf leak.

my dr. didn't find one but didn't follow protocol (and my request) as i was left without being patched up so i have no way to totally rule that out.

i've had many tests but nothing showing up. i have meineire's like symptoms but also the neurological ones. it gets worse with certain triggers like valsalving, twisting, bending, straining and lifting anything with some weight.

i have been told more times than not that i'm fine or it's in my head or there is nothing wrong with me ear etc.. etc.. i dunno what to do as i can feel leaking down my throat and when i do, i get bad symptoms... so i'm sure i have leak somewhere. i suspect it's a PLF but no dr. will even admit that PLFs exist so i have no support on that one.

my next step is to consult with a dr. in the states as i've run out of options here.

Same here, when it flows, I go spiraling down. I'm usually ok for a couple hours in the morning, and it feels like I'm congested in my right sinus. It's always this sinus, never the left. If you do get a csf leak test, make sure they use pledglets to catch samples in your sinuses. I had one done, and was told by the technician that the manner in which I was tested was improper. The pledglet test basically is for lack of more appropriate terms - a couple tampons in your nose to catch any fluid that may accumulate after the injection of marker fluid into your spinal column. Then they take a weight/molecular weight of the fluid to see if any marker is there. The other test is basically an xray to see if there is any accumulation of csf where there shouldnt be. And we all know that when there's fluid dripping down your throat, instinctively we swallow... And the fluid is diffused elsewhere without any significant/obvious accumulation. Ive got a couple appt's left before I head south as well. Fortunately my neurologist has had the guts in the past to do blood patches even though no obvious csf leak has been found. However, if you are , as I, have fluid entering your sinuses, you should be on prophylactic antibiotics to ward off opportunistic microbial invasions. If it can get out of your skull, it can get back in... My neuro has mentioned this to my family dr. and I am on a 3000mg/day regimen of clavulin (amoxocillin w/clauvonic acid). I have on occasion, afterusing sinus rinses (metipot) felt fluid enter my intracranial space. The fistula that is allowing fluid into your sinus can be a hiway to meningitis. That inflammation could be a likely cause of the neurological symptoms. Spooky, when you know it's happened dozens of times over the span of the illness. Some of the symptoms could simply be caused by the decompression from the leak, but they usually resolve if you lie on your back with your head supported around 15-25 degrees.
Where do you think your leak is located? I actually have a sore spot just behind my mastoid (where I heard the pop originally), and can feel the fluid drawn from there when the morning congestion clears from being mobile, or drinking hot fluids, or valsalva like manouvers etc. There seems to be an artery somewhere along that route that gets irritated when pressure on it is relieved which nearly always instantaneously brings about the neurological symptoms.
What is the fluid like that enters your throat? Significant taste?, consistency? Color?

wow. you've got the same thing! and you're in canada!! i have had no luck with neuro-otoligsts here... they think it's all in my head like i'm some sort of hysterical woman who has nothing better to do then complain.

yes, i know about the risks but my dr.s have never seemed concerned and never prescribed abx. i'm a bit worried today as i've had a really sore/throat/neck due to a cold/virus/infection yikes. might go to the walk-in today just for something.

what sort of adjustment did you have that started this? my chiro pulled the tops of my ears until each popped very loudly. she doesn't do the bone cracking thing but uses an activator. i can't recall where i was adjusted with the tool but she usually did one along the base of my skull.

i have the same sore spot as you on the right lower part of my head... like the pointy bone part just above the neck. i use to have popping sounds all over my head and i almost think it was csf getting trapped in the tissues because when i'd press it, i'd hear a lot of popping. could have been draining?

yes, many of my symptoms are from leaking and low inter cranial pressure. i usually lie down and drink green tea when it happens. it eventually goes away but the symptoms are of course very freaky and disturbing. plus it seems to trigger my autonomic nervous system and i usually feel a surge of anxiety/panic/feeling of something isn't right.

pressure along the whole back of my head use to bring on symptoms and i believe that's because the whole cerebellum was droopy and getting pressed on. it might not be that one spot... but who knows.

Usually I almost feel like i have a plug in my throat when i'm not leaking. it feels phelmy and full on the right. i have now learned not to do any throat clearing as that seems to make it worse. however, when it begins to leak, it's think and slow. if it continues, it becomes watery and warm... it can just seem to flood my sinuses or cause sinus pressure, ear aches, ear ringing etc. and when it leaks i also get dizzy.

i don't really have any other handle of the fluid since it's so far back in my throat and i don't think i could spit it out as it just flows down. dunno if the pledglet test would work unless they can put it in your Etube? things don't really go down my nose.

it's interesting that you have this on the right too. have you tried any other meds? i tried diuretics for about a week or so but it left me feeling odd so i stopped.

i think i was at a pretty good point of healing but during my op the dr. valsalved me and i was almost back to square one.

has your hearing been affected? i have a 20 db loss of hearing in my right ear which the dr.'s say isn't related but i didn't not have a 20db loss before this all started.

Exactly the same, and with the plug as well. Just spent a week struggling with an infection that strexhed all the way back into my occiptal, finally clearing after working out a mass of white, tissue like in consistency, phlegm. This seemed to be irritating either a nerve (trigmenial poss?) or was pinching an artery as the stroke like symptoms followed immediately after I sensed the irritation/movement. I have wondered about e=tube involvment for some time after having a sinus rinse (meti-pot) went directly into my ear, and also seemed to get into a space in my neck (c1 - occipital region)
I'd recommend seeing someone about some antibiotics if you are having trouble with an infection right now. I swear I've had meningeal inflammation due to upper resp. issues in the past, and if you think the usual is bad, it can get much, much worse.

I will be seeing an ENT in may, and back to the neuro about the fistula/leak diagnosis in june. Wish it were the other way around as I'm pretty sure the csf leak caused the sinus fistula. But my neuro is already ok with trying a blood patch, and thy both work at the same hospital, so maybe they will bump into each other down in the cafeteria
and finally come to a concensus and accomplish something.
Oh yeah, something I was going to reiterate. When you do get the low csf symptoms, honest to god, the hands down winner for alleviating them is the 2 stiff drinks procedure. I can't tell you how much of a difference it has made on so many occassions. I realize it may not be practical or prefered, but my lord how it improves the condition. I know that alcohol raises intracranial pressure due to some studies for Emergency room practices for head injuries as it causes complications with trauma, so it even makes some sense as to it;s effectiveness. Don't over do it though, as I can testify that it might cause excessive leakage due to overpressuring. (2 was great!, 5 must feel fantastic! - judgment was obviously clouded...lol)
I'm with you on the way my body responds as well, have likened it to a histiological reaction at times, and have had some relief after taking an oral antihistamine. I don't recommend an intranasal spray as it felt like it travelled directly into my brainstem. Not good at all.

Good luck, get some a-biotics, and keep your stick on the ice. Duane.

Last edited by moderator2; 03-31-2009 at 07:14 AM.
Reason: please do not post your email address in the public forums - instead, use the private messaging system